From the indies to the big lights of WWE, AEW, and even New Japan, wrestling is an inherently hard business in which to break out and through, for many reasons.
For starters, it may be scripted, but it is still dangerous, as even the slightest of errors may end careers before they have a chance to begin, necessitating the very best in physical and mental conditioning. And even if one is an excellent in-ring worker, he/she also has to be able to navigate the labyrinthine worlds that are crowd connection and backstage politics, and sometimes that eventually proves too much.
These wrestlers, at some point in their careers, decided that the stress was just too much for them to bear and never returned, at least to the ring.
8 Kimber Lee
Kimber Lee was one of the stalwarts of women's wrestling in the 2010s, back when Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis were still running the Divas Division to the ground with filler-quality angles involving models. Her sweet-looking yet pugnacious blonde image helped make her a multiple-time champion, especially when paired with Cherry Bomb (who later became more famous as Allie in Impact and The Bunny in AEW).
But in 2022, she made headlines when she accused her now ex-husband Zach Wentz, then an NXT Tag Team Champion under the name Nash Carter, of domestic abuse, then getting him fired from WWE by leaking a photo of him doing a Hitler impression. Needless to say, the entire saga was ugly, and Lee began connoting wrestling with negative personal experiences, which led to her retirement.
7 Goldberg
Goldberg is currently on a part-time contract with WWE, with his most significant contribution being in the Saudi shows. That is a far cry from his first stint, where he was in it for the grind. But in between stints, he did not do anything wrestling-related. Why?
In a 2018 conversation with none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin, he said that he had developed tension with many people behind the scenes. From the derailment of his WCW push to WWE's mishandling of him, he sure had plenty of it built up, and it showed in his first meeting with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 20; he looked disinterested, as if waiting for the end to come.
6 Shaul Guerrero
The daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero could have been one of the best third-generation wrestlers to ever step foot in the ring, male or female, but sadly it was not to be.
Shaul had been struggling with an eating disorder at the time of her departure from WWE, but initially held high hopes of a return once the time was right. That time did not come to pass, and in 2021, she permanently left wrestling because of a "very scary mental illness crisis." Whatever it was is unknown, but here's hoping she has found her inner peace.
5 Shawn Michaels
Yes, Shawn Michaels is currently running NXT, and he had been doing a tremendous job at it, but that does not mean he will fight again, even if it is to put over someone.
In 2018, eight years after his emotional WrestleMania sendoff, the Heartbreak Kid returned to the ring at Crown Jewel to tag with Triple H against Kane and The Undertaker. The match was irredeemably bad, but it gets worse. Shawn was supposed to have matches with Taker and AJ Styles afterward, but after Jeddah, he (rightfully) decided he had had enough.
4 Michelle McCool
Michelle McCool made a killing in the early part of the 21st century as one-half of LayCool, one of the most hated duos of that time. Their crass antics made fans want to see them get her comeuppance, and they got double delight when Layla broke away from her and ended her WWE career.
Except backstage, McColl had also been wanting to leave WWE, thanks to harassment from fans regarding her relationship with The Undertaker, whom she would eventually marry. Those fans had been claiming that Taker was the sole reason she was pushed as the top woman in WWE, and she understandably felt stressed by it all.
3 Batista
This is not referring to the first time Batista quit, nor the third and final time. Rather, it is about his much-maligned second run in the company - the one where they attempted to make him a beloved returning hero.
When The Animal made his return in 2014, it was in the midst of Daniel Bryan's Yes Movement. Batista had seen through the blatant attempt to capitalize on his Hollywood success despite Bryan's popularity and turned himself heel on the fly. That is not to say he enjoyed it, though, as his disillusionment with creative drove him out again.
2 Anna Bogomazova
Anna Bogomazova could have been something special in WWE. A 6'1 Russian kickboxer, she was someone Vince McMahon could have molded into the quintessential foreign star who could give the promotion unprecedented success in a region not known for wrestling.
But early in her career, she suffered an arm injury that led her to attempt to sue the WWE for negligence. In 2017, that lawsuit was dismissed, and her passion for wrestling understandably disappeared. That us a shame, because that rumored Shield-style trio of her, Summer Rae, and Paige might have been the catalyst towards better women's wrestling in WWE rather than the Four Horsewomen.
1 Muhammad Hassan
Remember when Muhammad Hassan was going to get a rocket of a push to the World Heavyweight Championship? Those were the times.
No one was more hated in 2004 and 2005 than Hassan, who was portraying an Arab-American in a post-9/11 landscape. However, given the change in perception of those people over time, he probably should have been booked as a face. In 2020, Mark Copani, the man behind the Hassan role, admitted to Chris Van Vliet that, even though he still loved the business somewhat, he had to leave because of the mental and psychological scars the handling of his character left on him.
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